DEFENCE
Dutch MoD ponders
helicopter needs
BY DOUGLAS BARR1E
The Dutch Ministry of De fence (MoD) is reviewing
its need for both utility and
attack helicopters, examining
merging the requirements.
The air force had had a
requirement for up to 40 attack
helicopters and 17 utility
helicopters. A recent defence
review highlighted the need for
an armed helicopter, with first
delivery in 1996-7 (Flight
International, 3-9 February).
The defence ministry now
says that as the result of a
parliamentary request "...to ex
amine the option of an armed
utility helicopter...we are
studying buying a multi
purpose helicopter. We are
doing a report, and will send in
the results by the end of June."
Industry officials close to the
requirements claim that there
is "a disconnect between parlia
ment and the military". The
latter, not surprisingly, wishes
to maintain two separate re
quirements. A merged require
ment would rule out a
dedicated anti-armour heli
copter purchase.
Sikorsky, with the UH-60
Black Hawk; Eurocopter, with
its AS.532 Cougar; and EH
Industries (EHI), offering the
EH 101, are competing for the
utility requirement.
Merging the utility and at
tack requirement could favour
the Black Hawk, which has
already been tested with the
Rockwell Hellfire anti-tank
missile, rocket pods, machine
guns and cannon, using the
external-stores support system.
The Hughes AGM-65 Maverick
is also believed to have been
test-fired from a Black Hawk.
The Eurocopter Cougar has
also been fitted with gun and
rocket pods. Merging utility
and armoured requirements
would almost certainly rule out
the EH 101, because of its size.
McDonnell Douglas has been
offering the AH-64 Apache to
meet the armed-helicopter re
quirement. Other potential
candidates include the Bell AH-
1 Cobra and the Agusta A.129.
Eurocopter is believed to have
offered the BO. 105 as an in
terim solution, until the Tiger
attack helicopter becomes
available. •
Ceramic-matrix composite flaps and seals feature on the nozzle
USN studies afterburner for F-18
BY GUY NORRIS
IN LOS ANGELES
The US Navy is studying development of a more du
rable and easier-to-maintain
version of the F404 turbofan
engine using an afterburner de
signed for the F414 for its
McDonnell Douglas F-18 fleet.
General Electric F414 man
ager of Navy integration Kevin
Field says: "The Navy has been
working with the 414 people
about using the afterburner fea
tures on the 404. We're supply
ing information to them and
the Navy is considering it."
The concept is believed to be
achievable within a short time,
as the afterburner unit is one of
the leading elements in the
F414 development programme.
The entire assembly was
tested as early as February
Cessna all-out to complete JPATS
Cessna is working at full capacity to complete its
prototype Model 526 con
tender for the US joint pri
mary-aircraft training system
(JPATS) competition, in the
hope that the fly-off date is
delayed to beyond the end of
the year.
"The next 30 days are going
to be critical," says programme
manager, Jon Huffman. "We
will be very, very busy, with
the first fuselage being com
pleted and being joined to the
wing in August," he adds.
The first flight is scheduled
for 15 September, which is
also the date planned for the
maiden flight of Cessna's Cita
tion X corporate jet.
The prototype will be used
to evaluate handling qualities,
while the second aircraft,
which is due to be flown in
November, will be the com
pany's demonstrator aircraft.
Huffman realises that the
company's JPATS bid is a race
against time. "We're probably
out of it if they [the US Air
Force/Navy] want it certifi
cated and flying by March
1994," he admits. "We could
demonstrate it before the end
of March, but that would not
release us to thoroughly test
the aircraft before handing it
over to the air force."
While Cessna's JPATS bid is
at a disadvantage because of its
late entry, it has also allowed
it to benefit from two late
changes in the competition.
The call for a minimum of
75% domestic content and the
capability to accommodate a
vast range of pilot sizes.
"We are 100% US. We can
accommodate the biggest and
the littlest from the 2451b
[110kg], 6ft 7in [2m] man to
the 1001b, 5ft lin girl,"
says Huffman.
The 526 combines the Cita-
tionjet wing, empennage, en
gines and landing gear with a
new, purpose-designed fuselage.
The company believes that
the lower cost of using many
Citationjet components could
be its trump-card in keeping
life-cycle costs down. •
1992 and has been taken
through the full-flight perform
ance envelope at an altitude test
site in Trenton, New Jersey.
Like much of the F414, the
afterburner combines many el
ements of other GE engines.
"The flameholder design is de
rived from the F120 [GE's can
didate engine for the advanced
tactical-fighter competition]
...the liner and casing and vari
able-exhaust nozzle came from
the RM12/F404," says Field.
The Navy is still evaluating
GE's proposed use of an ad
vanced ceramic-matrix com
posite material for the secon
dary flaps and seals in the
divergent portion of the nozzle,
he adds.
The material was developed
during research and develop
ment of integrated high-
performance turbine engine
technology (IHPTET). It has
been run through 6,000 after
burner light-ups in a salt-laden
atmosphere simulating the car
rier-deck environment.
With the spending uncer
tainty over future US Navy and
Air Force aircraft programmes,
GE and McDonnell Douglas are
working hard to keep the
F414/F-18E/F programme as
trouble-free as possible.
Just over 8h of tests have
been completed on the first test
engine, the 001, including
vibration monitoring of the
single-crystal low-pressure tur
bine blades. Ram-air inlet
conditions, simulated at speeds
in excess of Mach 1 and after
burner operations, are being
tested at the moment.
The engine will be torn
down and re-built after the
completion of the first test
phase at the end of July. •
40 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23 - 29 June, 1993